


As You Walk Me Home

by BornToFly02



Series: Downpour [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Teen Titans - All Media Types, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Bruce Wayne is Bad at Feelings, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Bruce Wayne is Trying, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Dick Grayson is a Good Parent, Police Officer Dick Grayson, Protective Dick Grayson, Protective Wally West, Romani Dick Grayson, Single Parent Dick Grayson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:29:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27193798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BornToFly02/pseuds/BornToFly02
Summary: Since Tim became Robin, Dick had started spending more time at the Manor again, unwilling to let his issues with Bruce put the newest boy in danger like Jason. Then he suddenly stopped.Tim wants to know why and recruits Wally to help.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Wally West, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson
Series: Downpour [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1984505
Comments: 5
Kudos: 303





	As You Walk Me Home

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually set two months after "And The Rain Still Falls"
> 
> Johnny is two months old, Dick is 18

Morning came to Gotham through thick, dark clouds. It wasn’t anything new, the city was often shrouded in darkness.

Another common sight, in a large manor not far outside the city limits, a young man stumbled down the stairs and into the kitchen in search of coffee. It was a Saturday and two months before Tim would've walked into the dinning room to find his new older brother helping Alfred set the table with a bright smile on his face. As it was, he hadn't seen Dick since that weekend. He knew that the first Robin had his own city to take care of but his first six-seven months as Robin, Dick had visited every weekend and texted regularly.

Alfred greeted the teen with a full mug of coffee which was eagerly accepted.

"Thanks Alfred. Any word from Dick?"

The butler's face said it all, his lips thinning at the reminder.

"Sorry." he muttered, looking down into his mug.

"Nonsense Master Timothy, I'm sure Master Dick is fine. He will come back when he is ready."

Tim ate his breakfast in silence as he contemplated the issue.

He had discovered who Batman and both Robins were all on his own years ago. It made sense when the second Robin died and Batman started losing control that he would volunteer to be Robin. Now, he should be smart enough to figure out what was wrong with Dick, why he wasn't visiting anymore. As far as he knew, there'd been no new arguments between Batman and Nightwing. No recent deaths in the superhero community.

He could do research, it was something he was good at. Looking through old files, pictures, videos, and newspaper articles came more naturally to the third Robin than any of the more physical aspects. However, if this was a personal issue rather than a professional one, hacking probably wouldn't yield much in terms of the information he sought. So Tim went a different route.

* * *

Dick Grayson had been enjoying a very rare day off. The decision to stay in the police academy even after his son came into his life was not an easy one to make but with the support of the titans, he continued. That didn't mean that he didn't miss his son while he was away.

So now he was sitting on his couch, arms fully occupied, just enjoying the look of joy and wonder on Johnny's face. Only two months old. Two months and Dick didn't know what he'd do without this little boy.

"I love you so much. I promise I'll always protect you as best I can."

The slight crackle of lightning alerted him to the fact that his friend had arrived.

"You're already a great dad. You know that, right?"

"I hope so." Dick responded with a sigh before shifting to face the speedster. "So what brings you here?"

"You mean other than my adorable little nephew?" Wally said, using a baby voice as he looked down at Johnny. "Well, I'm here 'cause of a bird going batty."

Dick frowned for a moment before an expression of realization and guilt crossed his face.

"Tim."

"Got it in one. He's really worried about you, man. You didn't even tell Alfred what's going on?"

"Wally, I didn't want anyone to know. Heck, I still don't. Do you really think B would just accept that I have a baby? He'd want proof that he's mine, then he'd know who the mother is, and he'd want to know why and I just-"

"Hey, calm down. Breathe."

Johnny cooed softly, helping his father calm down. After a few moments of matching his breathing with Wally, Dick spoke again.

"I don't want to explain what happened to the men who raised me but I also don't want them to think I wanted it."

Wally sighed, moving to kneel beside the couch.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to, but I think you should visit the manor. Now hear me out."

Dick stood, careful not to jostle his son, and moved to the kitchen.

"I'm listening, I just need to feed Johnny."

Sure enough, not a minute later the baby started to fuss.

"Jeez! You some sort of sixth sense with that little guy. When I get babysitting duty I need to go down the whole list when he fusses."

Dick smiled slightly as he put together the bottle.

"Anyways," Wally cleared his throat, "if you tell Bruce that you'll tell him eventually, _don't snort_ , he'll be a bit more focused on your new baby than on going against your wishes. Hopefully."

"Yeah, the hopefully is what I'm worried about."

"Hey, you've done the whole radio-silence before and you just spent the past two months with no contact. I think worse comes to worse, you can always threaten the Bat with a repeat performance."

"I guess that's always an option."

The two young men, barely adults, settled in side-by-side on the couch. One feeding the small baby, the older watching peacefully.

"Timmy really misses you, man."

"Yeah. I know."

* * *

The next weekend in Gotham started much the same as the one before. Overcast skies raining tears onto the old stones buildings common to the city.

Tim woke slowly, tired from a week of school and long patrols. He didn't bother to get changed out of his pyjamas, silently praising the quiet Saturday morning. His steps were slow as he made his way down to the kitchen, bringing his tablet with so he could get an early start on some casework.

Then, something shifted.

There were voices coming from the kitchen. Bruce was never up this early on a Saturday unless he never went to sleep and even then, on those days he didn't come up from the cave until lunch.

"C'mon Alfie!" he heard the loud whine, instantly connecting the voice with Wally West, and sped up.

Entering the room, he found Wally was in fact there, helping Alfred set the table. Meanwhile, an older teen with dark black hair sat at the long wooden table, facing away from him.

"Dick?"

It was only as Dick turned in his chair that Tim noticed the baby carrier at his feet.

“Hey Timmy, there’s someone here you should meet."

Tim was in shock as his older brother stood and walked towards him with a small bundle in his arms.

"Tim, this is my son. John Peter Grayson."

Wally leaned against the doorframe, silently providing support. He knew Tim wasn't close enough to Dick yet to recognize the nervous tension filling the acrobat.

"You have a son? Since when?"

"Since two months ago when his mother gave birth and gave him to me." Dick replied, his tone making it clear that it was all he'd be saying on the matter.

"Oh, uh... that's... nice?"

Dick chuckled softly before adjusting his grip on the baby.

Tim moved a little closer, looking down at the baby.

"He looks like you."

"Yeah," Dick agreed happily, "he does."

Tim looked up at the eighteen year old. While always the happy one, especially compared to Bruce, Dick looked even happier than he'd ever seen him.

"Can- can I hold him."

Dick absolutely beamed.

"Of course. Make sure to support his head."

Wally almost laughed at the scene. Tim was holding the baby as though he would break at the slightest hint of force and Dick was rocking forward on the balls of his feet, eager to hold his son again.

"He's beautiful."

Alfred brought in the last plate of food and turned to the three young men.

"While I agree with Master Tim's statement, I do believe it is time to eat."

"Sweet!" the speedster exclaimed, appearing in one of the seats with a spark of lightning, provoking a delighted squeal from Johnny.

"Isn't Uncle Wally silly?" Dick cooed as he took the baby back. "Yeah, he knows there's no speed in the house."

"Sorry Alfred." Wally said sheepishly before continuing to fill his plate.

"It is quite alright Master Wallace. Do try to remember in the future."

"Sure thing, Alfie."

The trio sat in silence, enjoying their breakfast for a while, but Dick felt more tense as time went on. He could've come later in the day but he figured it'd be best to at least get in a quick visit with Tim that way if things with Bruce went south, he could always leave. They had finished eating and moved to the sitting room by the time Bruce woke up.

"Dick, you're here."

"Very astute of you Bruce. Any other helpful observations?"

"You're holding a baby."

"I was being sarcastic."

"Who's baby is that?"

Dick's eyes narrowed as he pulled his son closer.

"This is my son. John Peter Grayson."

Bruce was never very expressive. The man did have emotions, he's only human after all, but they were often pushed down so deep that only micro expressions made it to the surface. Thankfully, Dick had long since learned to read those expressions and from what he was reading, that name had come as the equivalent of a punch in the gut.

"Peter."

"For Jason, yeah."

Tim was frozen in his seat, watching his mentor carefully. Wally's eyes were flicking back and forth between Bruce and Dick. Johnny started to fuss and Wally stood.

"I'll take him, he probably just needs-"

"To be changed, I fed him in the car."

Wally grimaced but still lifted his nephew up.

"Let's go little man."

Everything was silent as the speedster left the room.

"Are you sure it's yours?"

"HE is mine. Jesus Bruce, did you even take a second to look at him?! It's obvious!"

"But you didn't do a DNA test."

"I know who his mother is so I know he's mine! I know it and that's all that matters. I don't need to show you proof."

Bruce's jaw clenched and he looked away from his eldest.

"You know what, this was a stupid idea. I shouldn't have come. Tim, I'm sorry I wasn't around, you have my number if you need anything. Wally! We're going!"

"Dick wait!" Tim cried, following Dick from the room.

"If you need me I'll come but I'm not going to explain all the nitty gritty details to Bruce. This isn't a case report, it's my life."

Wally was already waiting by the door with Johnny and the diaper bag while Alfred held the baby carrier.

"Hey Johnny, we're heading home."

Dick strapped his son into the carrier that conveniently doubled as a car seat, taking that time to calm himself down.

"Dick," Bruce rumbled.

"What do you want me to say Bruce?"

"I want you to tell me how this happened."

Dick felt a bubble of hysterical laughter rising in his throat and stubbornly pushed it down.

"Well then, I'm sorry to disappoint. Come talk to me when you feel like really meeting your grandson. Let's go, Wally."

Bruce nearly staggered from how hard those words hit, but he still didn't do anything to stop his eighteen year old son from walking out the door.

"Bruce, you can't be serious!"

Batman hardly noticed his youngest (only other) son running out the front door, not even bothering to close it behind him as he yelled for his older brother.

It was too similar.

( _Robin isn't just a job, it's my life!_ )

Like it was happening all over again.

( _What am I supposed to do?!_ )

How could he let it happen again?

( _Talk to me when you're ready to admit you fucked up._ )

How could he let his first son just walk away? He'd messed up.

* * *

On a Wednesday evening, two weeks after the breakfast visit, Dick got home, greeted once again by Wally who was babysitting for the day, to the sight of a rather large package. There was no return address but the handwriting that got it sent to his door.

He almost didn't open it, but Wally was giving him a look and he couldn't bring himself to ignore.

With a sigh, he ripped open the box and his breath caught.

There was a small white note, only seven words written. Under it were two things. A soft robin's egg blue blanket, and a little stuffed elephant.

Dick couldn't stop his smile, moving the note to the counter before pulling the other items out to show to his son. He made a mental note to save that message somewhere. Maybe Johnny would like to see it when he grew up.

_Jason would be happy. Just like me._

**Author's Note:**

> So I’m thinking of adding some elements from Titans(2018) to this series. Obviously things would be very different seeing as Dick has a child and Jason would already be Red Hood.
> 
> Also, I’ve been sorting out what I want for the timeline here so I may post a story to the series that’s just giving the timeline if anyone’s interested. I am sort of mashing a ton of things together here


End file.
